New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to
grant bail to Vikas Yadav, who is undergoing life
imprisonment, in connection with the Nitish Katara murder
case.
However, the apex court asked the Delhi High Court to
expeditiously consider his appeal against the conviction and
life imprisonment awarded by the trial court.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and
Justices B S Chauhan and K S Radhakrishnan did not accept the
contention of Yadav that he has been in jail for over seven
years.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yadav, son of
controversial Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, submitted
that the convict should be granted bail as it would take a lot
of time by the High Court to decide his appeal.
Vikas along with his cousin Vishal Yadav was held guilty
by the trial court for kidnapping and murder of Katara, a
business executive by the trial court on May 28, 2008.
They were charged with eliminating Katara as they did
not like his intimate relationship with their sister Bharti
Yadav.
Katara was kidnapped from a marriage party in Ghaziabad on
the intervening night of February 17-18 2002 and two days
later his body was found from a distant place.
Vikas, who has never succeeded in securing bail from any
court, was allowed to attend Bharti`s marriage on November 1
in judicial custody.
The High Court had refused him bail to attend her marriage
and only allowed him to be present at the venue of the wedding
from 5:00 pm till she leaves for her husband`s home.
Vikas had committed the crime when he was granted bail in
the Jessica Lal murder case in which he was subsequently
convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment for
helping main accused Manu Sharma by destroying evidence.
The Katara murder case was transferred to Delhi for trial
on the order of the Supreme Court after victim`s mother Neelam
Katara had expressed apprehension of getting fair trial in
Ghaziabad.
PTI
